August 31, Sensei Maria

Sorry it took me so long to post!

1. Warmup Tai-Sabaki Entry
Tai-sabaki you are a pain in my butt! Staying on the balls of my feet is a challenge because I have the flattest feet in the world. I need to work on this at home.

2. Warmup Elbow Strike
Hitch step entry, turn hip and drop, strike with elbow.
Biggest thing for me is to maintain posture while turning my hip for the strike. I noticed that when my hip turned it knocked Youval back a bit. I also noticed that when you complete the strike you are set up for Osoto-gari, and Uki-Goshi...or really anything that has a hitch step entry.

3. Warmup Solar Plexis Punch
Working out with Youval is a real treat, because he has a very powerful punch. After about 3 cycles of taking jabs to the solar plexis, I had to really focus on dealing with the pain that was being inflicted on me. It's wierd because it's not injury, it's pain, but immediately my flight/fight reponse was like "run away Woody, run away!" I haven't felt like that since dealing with Jenny's punches. Ouch!

4. Kotegaesh from aihanmi katatedori ( same side wrist grab )
From Previous post : As uke grabs slide lateral while turning hand up, ( a long time ago when I studied aikido the sempai there said "serve the platter", this reminds me of the movement ) cradle uke's wrist with opposite hand and cut fingers away from wrist. Drop hips and lock.

So it seems that we have our feet all wrong, so here's the breakdown.
1. Left side forward
2. Pivot 45 degrees
3. Back leg crosses lead leg
4. Pivot 180 degrees, right leg is facing front.

5. Katananage from aihanmi katatedori ( same side wrist grab )
Moment of wrist grab, break balance ( kuzushi ) by using hitch step entry. Bring back leg to fronto generate throw.

*Note : Keep hand in center, "it's your hand, keep your hand"-Sensei Maria
**Note : Don't grab Sensei Maria's wrist so hard when she is showing sempai Cari the technique.

6. Ikkyu from straight punch (Tski?)
Step back at an angle allowing your hand to revolve around the punch, cathc the punching hand and lead it to the opposing hand, step in to apply the lock
( Sorry for vague description, there is something almost poetic about his technique )

*Note : On ukemi don't immediately face fall to the ground, allow tori to guide you into the direction of the fall.

7. Hip drop from punch
From punch pivot hips a la shichodachi allowing punch to pass. As uke rechambers, pivot hips and cup arm to drive them into the ground.
On this technique I tried to imagine myself pushing down onto a table with my hips, this seemed to cause uke to drop...or maybe i'm carazzzzzy.

8. Sparring
This is what I thought to myself with Sensei Maria,
"Keep you hands up, she fights full contact!"
"Are you breathing?"
"Where is she?"
"What is she looking at"
The last I think is important b/c I think Sensei was looking at my core, as opposed to me who tries to make eye contact, maybe by focusing on the core you can see the shoulders and hints, and view the attack at it's birth. I looked at the core with Sempai Adi...

Thoughts with Sempai Adi,
"He's kickin aint he?" ( yes he did )
"Hey look his stomach"
"Hey look his head"
I felt with Sempai by watching his core rather than his face I could percieve things a little better. Yar!

9. So what made you stay?
In talking to Sempai Adi, ( we were chatting about how challenging it is starting out ) and Sempai asked me "So what made you stay?"

Lately I have been researching all the different aspects of jujitsu. The striking, the history of judo, the history of budo, and the current craze of brazilian jujitsu and grappling. I think what makes us different is that this is an art, and that we all have the opportunity to contribute something to it. we are not here to learn to hurt people. The beginning of the Hippocratic oath is "First Do no harm..." interesting because a doctor has the ability to maim and destroy, just like us!